September 18, 2018

277: Tinfoil Hat With Chin Strap Security Method

September 18, 2018/ Jerry Zigmont

Topics:

-Joe talks Apple Watch

-Joe introduces two new segments:

-“What I learned at the Apple Store”
Joe learned how to check his iTunes gift card balance

-”What I learned from the client”
The keyboard shortcut of Command+Backslash auto populates credentials from 1Password
Sam is blown away by this, yet Jerry has been doing this for years. It prompts Sam to quickly come up with a new segment of his own: “What I learned on Command Control Power”.

-Joe has a rant about 1Password 7 and offering markdown support, which inadvertently had a detrimental affect on his Secure Notes within 1Password.

-Wearing his tin foil hat, Joe talks about entering computer passwords and other potential data while on public networks or on camera that could already be compromised.

-Continuing the security topics, the gang talks about directory bound account passwords in large organizations that are set to Welcome1.

-Joe has a bone to pick with Microsoft Exchange due to another missing feature that exists elsewhere. It seems to be missing multiple alerts in calendar events!

-Sam gets frustrated about a freebie he offered to a client that turned into a much longer visit than expected

August 21, 2018

273: Work Humanely At Your Sustainable Peak With Author - Jeff Porten

August 21, 2018/ Jerry Zigmont

Topics:

-Brandon Walter, a relatively new listener to the show (thanks Ty Romstadt!), provides a couple of tips, including an alternative adhesive kit for the 21.5" and 27" iMacs:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/202357271099

-Brandon also mentions a great vCard export option within the Contacts app

-Jerry mentions an excellent tip he heard on Mac Geek Gab, which is to open a desktop version of a website on a mobile device (think iCloud.com on an iPhone/iPad)

-Joe's disappointing 15" MacBook Pro story continues as he finds he cannot have the battery replaced at the Apple Store. Jerry suggests a "Mac Drop".

-We have the pleasure of welcoming Jeff Porten, author of Take Control of your Productivity, available from Take Control Books -
Jeff Porten has 25 years of experience as an independent consultant to small businesses and nonprofits, concentrating on information technologies, business planning, and personal and organizational workflow management.

Being productive is never as simple as putting items on a calendar or to do list and checking them off. Most of us struggle with too much to do, too little time, and only a vague idea of how to plan each day so we can achieve the best results with the least stress. If that sounds like you (and especially if you’ve tried a bunch of productivity systems and found them lacking), Jeff Porten’s expert guidance may be just what you need.

-Listeners of the show can receive a special 30% off the book price by going to http://takecontrolbooks.com/ccpower. ACNs can also receive a sample copy for evaluation.

-You can reach Jeff at takecontrol@jeffporten.com

July 31, 2018

270: iMac Pro & T2 Madness

July 31, 2018/ Jerry Zigmont

We welcome our VIP Patreon Sponsors:

Topics:

-Joe made it to Portland, Oregon and had the chance to hang out with friend of the show Kevin Ginger. Sam is in Wakesha, WI

-As the show start time approaches, Sam runs into issues on his own computer. Joe wonders if it’s /var/folders. Why is this directory such a mystery to us?

-An iMac Pro comes to Joe’s workbench with strange problems with the Share menu. One method of troubleshooting was using the Recovery Partition and he ran into Secure Boot features:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208330

After attempting Apple Configurator 2 and not having success, Joe’s team contacted Apple. The suggestion was made for a full unit replacement.

*Joe can see the future about future Mac computers with the T2 chip as this show was recorded prior to the recent 2018 MacBook Pro announcements
-Joe & Sam go down memory lane about the various models and how troubleshooting has changed

-Does Joe miss Touch ID on his MacBook Pro? Yes however he still had “Unlock with Apple Watch”. That is, until his Apple Watch decided to self destruct.

-One of Sam’s clients had a need to change their default domain within Google’s G-Suite and he discusses the pitfalls of making those changes
https://support.google.com/a/answer/2622985?hl=en

July 24, 2018

269: Waltzing Ma-tilde'

July 24, 2018/ Jerry Zigmont

Topics:

-Joe has some follow up about his favorite keyboard shortcut, Command+Tab. Jerry and Sam recall some of their favorites.

-As Jerry talks about using the Clipboard manager feature of one of his favorite apps, Alfred, Joe goes to his tin foil hat korner. Sam realizes how terribly inefficient he is at times.

-Jerry amuses the group about how some clients will bang away on their keyboard or mouse thinking that more force will make the computer respond better

-As Jerry talks about a client invading his personal space, Sam is reminded of a Seinfeld episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGVSIkEi3mM

-Sam has a gripe of his own in working with Jamf Now recently and an app deployment taking an unexpected turn

-After the recent announcement of Apple's keyboard service program for certain models, Joe suggests QA testing in more realistic, dusty environments.

-After years of unprepared clients, Sam encounters a client akin to Superman who performed half of the work he was quoted to do

-Jerry has a PSA about Sandisk memory cards that may fail under intense workloads

-Dropbox seems to be a culprit for high CPU usage

-Joe has a photographer client that was looking to adjust his workflow to RAW and it had negative affects on the memory card

-Sam chuckles to himself as he is directing his staff how to work using the "fuzzy slipper method" that Jerry coined recently

July 17, 2018

268: Peaves Or Gripes?

July 17, 2018/ Jerry Zigmont

This week we are proud to be sponsored by FLEXdesk, an offering from our friends at Rooted Consulting. FLEXdesk - Help Desk support that grows with you

Topics:

-Joe has some questions about content caching and working with multiple WAN IP addresses. Sam makes an attempt at discussing while on the road.

-Sam encounters an issue when attempting to download a full macOS High Sierra installer. With content caching enabled on another computer, the App Store only downloaded a small 15 MB file. Only when turning content caching off would it download the full installer.

-Jerry is in the midst of a remodel in his home office so he talks about the struggles of being uprooted and moving equipment

-He recommends theTP-Link PowerLine Adapters as a good alternative to ethernet when that’s not possible:https://amzn.to/2N6vX6P

-After Jerry was talking about how an Apple TV reset worked to correct issues, Joe suggests a change in our motto to “Have you tried resetting it?”

-Joe recommends these fans he found on Amazon for spot cooling. He specifically uses the AC Infinity Multifan
S2: https://amzn.to/2NcQhmP
S7: https://amzn.to/2uo5t8U

-Quick tip from Jerry about a client that took their Mac into the Apple Store and were told that it needed a new logic board. He saves the day by unplugging the battery and the client is ecstatic that it turned on again.

-A reminder from Jerry to have your clients put reviews on Google or Yelp

-Joe has some Safari gripes to talk about. At times, when clicking on a link in Apple Mail, it will open a new tab in one of his minimized windows in the Dock. Jerry wonders if it’s more of a peeve than a gripe.

-Another annoyance is making exceptions to invalid certificates in https sites. He also noticed that the password dialogue box is for the current logged in user’s credentials. Sam thinks this is because it is placing an exception in the user’s keychain. Jerry wonders if it’s a router’s config page with an expired certificate. An older version of Firefox is the workaround.

-Joe attempts to hold Sam to his keychain thought and he cannot verify as he is careening down the highway at high speeds

-A connection to John Gruber and Daring Fireball - he declares the Menu Bar as the Mac’s greatest invention. Joe says Command+Tab is the greatest keyboard invention. Sam wonders what came first, Command+Tab or Windows key+Tab?